The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1935. THE RETURN TO PROSPERITY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 254, 24 July 1935, Page 8

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1935. THE RETURN TO PROSPERITY

After making due allowance for the fact that one ot the obstacles impeding this country’s return to prosperity is the unsolved pioblem of the restoration of free international commercial intercourse, a problem beyond our control, Sir James Grose in his address o the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce on Monday declared that this in pediment did not justify the New Zealand people in adopting a policy If inaction. Much could be accomplished in the direction of solving our own internal problems. Much had been accomplished already But he added, “I do say that a more frafik and full discussion of current problems and legislative proposals would redound to the ultimate benefit of the Dominion as a whole. . _ . . A small committee of say, five leading men, representative of business generally, with whom the authorities could consult,, would be of advantage to the Dominion ” It is doubtful whether this suggestion would appeal to tne public. People might fear, for one thing, that the relative positions of this consultative committee and the Government would be reversed, as in the case of the young lady of Niger who went for a ride on a tiger. The Government is probably better served with data and advice from existing representative bodies than it migln be bv such a committee as Sir James suggests. In the final analysis it is'presumed to act in the general interest, whatever sceptical cynics may think to the contrary, and in dealing with technical problems ot great complexity to consult with competent advisers before acting. That democratic Governments seldom go as far as their expert advisers would like is a reflection of people’s distrust of theorists. Sir james Grose’s committee of five might be practical men, experts in their own fields, but governing a State is not like running a bankinginstitution, or a life insurance company, or a shipping line. People who demand more business in government would probably be the first to protest against the effects of such a policy upon themselves, for the immediate visible result of it would be a drastic curtailment of State paternalism. Again, those who demand less Government in business overlook the fact that more Government in business is the inevitable corollary of State paternalism.- We cannot eat our cake and have it. Democratic government has its vices and virtues, mid not the least among the latter is its ability to provide oppoitunities for the application of that “broad outlook and ability to see the other man’s point of view” which Sir James Grose regards as a necessity of the times, and which the representative character of our institutions should make possible. But that depends essentially upon the view that individual citizens, as electors and the makers of Governments, take of their responsibilities to the nation as a whole.